Allan started working at Mount Maunganui College in 1980, and in 1993 started an international programme, placing about 60 students from 20 countries into local homestays.
He's spent the past 25 years promoting the area to international students and, now in his newfound spare time, he has fallen in love with the Mount again.
"You're focused on what's appealing about here all the time, and you're conscious about what's good about living here.
"It's a great place to live isn't it?" he says with a smile.
Allan's favourite part about flying into Tauranga is that the flight path goes right over his house.
"If I'm sitting on the D seat I get this neat aerial of my place, it's pretty cool," he says.
"I try to think from the point of view of the kids coming in. They put a lot of trust in us, spending all this money and going all this distance. They come in, and they think, "Wow"."
Allan says it isn't until you finish your job that you realise the extent of the responsibility.
"You have got these 60 teenagers from all around the world, and anything can happen on your watch," he says.
At the same time, he's making a difference in people's lives, he says.
"We are putting roots in the international community. I could go around the world selling a product, but it is not the same as making human connections, there's something special about that."
Allan seems quite relaxed as he basks in his retirement - his hands clasped behind his head as he sinks into the couch.
He nods towards the walls. "I've painted the walls, brightened and refreshed things and tried to do some decluttering," he says.
His garden is looking as good as it ever has and he takes good care of his bees in the backyard.
He's also taken up tramping and goes for regular walks up the Mount at sunrise.
"As you get older you realise health is so far ahead of anything else," he says. "People talk about being able to afford to retire, well you can retire on not much but if I wasn't healthy, what's the point?"
He isn't going to rush into any volunteer work just yet, but does promise to take up bridge next year.
But the big news, Allan says, is that he's going to be a grandfather in March.
"I'm getting ready for that, that's the big one."
Depending on when his grandson or granddaughter is born, Allan hopes to take a road trip to the South Island in his three-year-old right-hand-drive red Mustang.
"I haven't been across the passes, and the South Island is beautiful," he says.
He doesn't need any encouragement to promote the country - he's been doing it for more than two decades.
But he is happy knowing that job is now in someone else's hands and wishes his successor all the best.
"You've got to let go."
